It has been a busy week in the political world and it made the radio show from May 15, 2018, very lively. Armstrong and I were joined in the first hour by Renee Garfinkel, an HSH Correspondent in Jerusalem as well as Evan Nierman, founder of Red Banyan.

We started off talking with Renee for an “on the ground” perspective of the historic day in Jerusalem. Renee started out by pointing out that “the population of Israel is just delighted that the American Embassy is moving to Jerusalem…”. She went on to say that this has been a long time coming and that many presidents prior to Donald Trump had promised to move the US Embassy but failed to do so during their administrations. While not a Trump supporter (self-proclaimed) Renee was adamant that she is very pleased with this move by the current administration. Evan Nierman reinforced much of the same sentiment and pointed out that for 3,000 years the Jewish people have had an uninterrupted presence in Jerusalem. Evan Nierman also pointed out a number of other countries that have already agreed to or begun to move their own embassies to Jerusalem.

Both Evan & Renee went on to discuss the unfortunate situation at the Gaza Strip which has been going on since April. Both pointed out that the protests are supported by Hamas and unlike the protests we see frequently in the US, these protests are NOT peaceful. Hamas is encouraging women & children to join in the violence and some members of the group have even been accused of using other humans as shields. Everyone agreed that the loss of life and violence at the Gaza Strip are tragic and heartbreaking, however, what is Israel supposed to do when its borders are being attacked? Personally, I support Israel’s use of force, especially when dealing with a terrorist organization like Hamas. As a result, I cannot understand why nearly EVERY caller condemned Israel’s actions. To me, it's very black and white; Hamas is a terrorist organization putting children on the front lines and ENCOURAGING martyrdom. How ANYONE could support or take the side of Hamas is an anomaly to me. As Evan put it, “It is hard for us as Americans to wrap our head around the idea of sending children into harm’s way to score PR points “. I wonder if, as a result, its easier to blame Israel than to face the hard reality of the evil of Hamas.